Advice Please! :)

My fiance & I are going on the European Vista in August (as well as two other tours) and we want to book a few things ahead to avoid waiting in lines. A few questions...<BR>Sorry to repeat things that may have been covered before, I have used the find section but just need a bit more help <img src="http://connect.contiki.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="Smiler" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin::)--><BR><BR>1) On the Vista what day is the caberet show? The 2nd night? The optional extra is the Nouvelle Eve, but we really wanna go to the Moulin Rouge instead. What time should we book it? What time is the Nouvelle Eve show usually? Can we easily make our way to & from the Moulin Rouge?<BR><BR>2) The first night in Paris, are you able to go up the eiffel tower? Like is the tour manager able to skip the lines and go up as a group or is this something that we have to do in our spare time the next day?<BR><BR>3) Do you actually stop at the leaning tower of Pisa or is it just a drive-by?<BR><BR>4) The optional extra guided imperial rome tour - when is that? Is it on the free day in Rome or is it at night when you first arrive there?<BR><BR>5) We want to book tours of Vatican City and also the Coleseum...Can anyone recommend any tours or anything?<BR><BR>6) In Austria you have the options of going white water rafting and also paragliding...are you able to do both? Do they do one in the morning and then one in the afternoon or something? When is the mountain bike tour?<BR><BR>7) We want to go to Anne Frank's house...should we book it for first thing in the morning? How far away are we staying? Will the bus drop us right in the middle of Amsterdam? What time? Or do we make our own way from the hotel?<BR><BR>8) Can anyone spill the beans on the sex show and the whole banana thing? Lol.<BR><BR>If you could help that would be great! I'm sure I will think of more questions <img src="http://connect.contiki.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="Smiler" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin::)-->

5) For the Colosseum buy your tickets at the Palentine Hill office (it’s down the street from the colosseum) the lines are usually much shorter and the ticket is good for the paletine hill & the colosseum. So once you go to the colosseum you skip the long line and just go through security.

I used Context Rome for my tour – it includes the Palentine Hill, Roman Forum, and the colosseum since all three are right next to each other.

5) We want to book tours of Vatican City and also the Coleseum…Can anyone recommend any tours or anything?

Vatican City is free. You are probably talking about a tour of the Vatican Museum?? If so you will want to book well in advance. The best one I can suggest is booking directly with The Vatican itself. They offer the best tours and are decently priced. But do it many months in advanced. You want the “Guided Tours for Individuals” not the group tour.

You can also try Angel Tours they are another good company. They also offer a FREE tour of the Pantheon every day at 7pm.

I highly suggest paying the money for a guided tour of the Vatican Museum as the line can be overr 2 hrs long. This way you bypass the line and enter in to the right side of the main entrance.

The Colloseum is included with the Palentine hill ticket. Best to get at Palentine hill. Also don’t forget they are now starting to charge for the Roman Forum. You can also purchase whats called a Roma Pass which gets you into 2 locations for free (pass is 20 euros) and the pass is good for 3 days and also gets you discounts at other places and can be used as a bus pass. Its very useful.

I also suggest getting Rick Steves Rome book. very useful if you are going to be there 2 days or more.

okay if i was you id be booking the moulin rouge asap because it books out quickly over the summer and usually booked out months in advance.The banana at the sex show is simply one of the females on the stage sticking a banana in between her legs hehe lol, and 3 guys have to eat it. Pretty funny

I originally bought a 72cm suitcase and then swtiched it for a 66cm, with the 66cm it wasnt totally full and i was at 17kg, so for me a smaller suitcase is more practical. I also have an overnight back that i am putting in my suitcase for my extra stuff, sourviners etc and if i need to, i’ll post a package back home

Yep Matty we plan to do some resting as well, Paris, Rome etc will be pretty full on as there is heaps to check out but in places like the French Riviera and other places we will chill out a little more & sleep in etc! We finish in Berlin and are spending a couple more nights there after the Eastern Road…plus we have about 5 nights in London in between tours! Should be awesome, can’t wait!

I have looked on the Moulin Rouge web site, and just wondering what show people usually go and see? The can can?? There are three different ones. Would you recommend getting a meal included too? If so, we would be having the meal at 7.30 i think it was then the show starts at 9pm…

Also, we are going suitcase shopping soon…I know they have the suitcase measurements but do I buy a suitcase that has smaller measurements than what they say, because if we bought one the same size as they say, once we fill it wouldnt it bulge out? We are only allowed 20kg of course, but will be taking less than that to allow for shopping…or is 15 to 20kg not enough for the suitcase to bulge out pass those measurements…? Lol did that make sense?

For the Egypt & the Nile trip we are getting there a day earlier, will we still be met at the airport?